Greece awards nearly all wind, solar capacity at auction as prices drop

Households and companies in Greece may see a decline in electricity tariffs after the latest auction of solar and wind capacity. Regulators accepted offers from power plant operators for a total of 141.9 MW and 471.8 MW, respectively, and the bidding brought lower power prices.

The Regulatory Authority for Energy – RAE said this year’s first separate electronic auctions for renewables were a great success at the benefit of consumers and the economy. The panel running the process in Greece added it accepted offers for 141.9 MW in solar power plants in the category up to 20 MW each and 471.8 MW in wind power capacity for facilities planned for a maximum of 50 MW apiece.

Prices drop 20.9% for wind power, 11.6% for photovoltaics from starting level

Only 515 kW and 9.6 MW, respectively, remained unallocated. The weighted average price for photovoltaics came in at EUR 49.81 per MWh or 20.9% under the starting level. Participants drove the wind power benchmark 11.6% lower to EUR 55.67 per MWh.

It compares to EUR 59.98 and EUR 55.77, respectively, from the equivalent auction back in December. The one in April, which was mixed, resulted in an average fixed tariff of EUR 52.02 per MWh. The solar part was EUR 51.37 and only one unit in the wind power segment in Greece was accepted, at EUR 54.64 per MWh for 153 MW in capacity.

RAE selects 39 solar, 15 wind power projects

A total of 52 photovoltaic projects participated and 532 bids were accepted for 39 of them. Reference prices ranged from EUR 62.45 to EUR 45.84, a record low. The lowest accepted fixed tariff in April was EUR 49.11 per MWh and in December the minimum was EUR 53.82.

The photovoltaic segment registered a record low at EUR 45.84 per MWh

In wind power, 25 projects participated and 118 bids were accepted for the 15 that passed. The range was EUR 57.7 to EUR 53.86 compared to the only accepted bid of EUR 54.64 per MWh in April and the lowest accepted bid of EUR 55.77 per MWh from the December auction.

PPC Renewables’ 11 MW solar energy unit in a coal mine in Megalopolis in the Peloponnese was among those selected. It is within a 50 MW solar park project and the company may apply the target model for the remainder, which means it would seek bilateral power purchase agreements.